"India has long been
regarded as the home of Hinduism, its mythology constituting the backbone of Indian
culture. Hindu myths have been adapted over the centuries to incorporate new or revised
characters, and they continue to play a central role in modern Indian life."

"Retold here in their colorful and dramatic splendor, the Hindu
myths touch on the key narrative themes of creation, preservation, destruction, delusion,
and the bestowal of grace. They also portray the main deities of the Hindu
pantheonShiva, Vishnu, and Deviand their relationships with antigods, nymphs,
and ascetics. Drawn from a variety of sources, most notably the encyclopedic Puranas, the
myths range from the early centuries A.D. to the sixteenth century, conveying their
enduring appeal and the religious teachings derived from them."

"The
Etruscans were a people of sophisticated culture and technology who lived in the area
between Florence and Rome. Their civilization flourished for nearly a thousand years
before being subsumed by the Roman Empire, but they left a substantial legacy to western
civilization. In antiquity they were known as a wealthy, luxury-loving people, fond of
banqueting and music and deeply religious. They were highly literate, but their literature
has not survived, so we turn to Etruscan art to tell us about their mythology and beliefs.
Their plentiful, spontaneous art also tells us a great deal about their lives and about
the importance of women in their aristocratic society. Most informative of their own
distinctive and colorful beliefs are their interpretations of scenes from Greek mythology,
reflecting the importance of goddesses and demons in their religion, as well as scenes of
the human sacrifice they practiced."

"This book serves as an excellent introduction to the world of
the Etruscans and their mythology and is plentifully illustrated from the vast collection
of the British Museum and other international museums."

"The coming of
Christianity to the state of Kievan Rus' at the end of the tenth century had an enormous
impact on the development of Russian civilization. Despite the abandonment of the pagan
gods, both Christian and pagan practices and beliefs continued to coexist for centuries,
producing a system known as 'dual faith.' Russian Myths deals with mythic beliefs,
notions, and customsconcerning the veneration of earth, water, fire, and air, demons
and spirit-beings in the world of nature, the cult of the dead, and witchcraftmany
of which have their roots in the pre-Christian past but still survive to the present
day."

"To illuminate the evolution of major themes and motifs and set
Russian myths in the context of mythology the world over, Elizabeth Warner draws upon a
rich variety of sources, including anecdotal narrative forms and religious legends, epic
songs, funeral laments and folk religion, and, of course, the folktales where the sacred
gives way to pure imagination in the depiction of mythic themes and characters."

"The rich panorama of
ancient Egyptian mythology has survived through tomb paintings, temple inscriptions, and
papyri."

"This account begins with the creation legends of Heliopolis,
Memphis, and Hermopolis and illustrates the intellectual struggles of the Egyptians to
explain the beginning of the world. The myths that follow range from stories about the
godsthe murder of Osiris and vengeance of Horus, Isis and the seven scorpions,
Sakhmet and the virtual slaughter of mankindto fables such as the Shipwrecked Sailor
and the Enchanted Island. Through these delightful and often amusing tales, we can
appreciate more fully the beliefs and imagination of the ancient Egyptians."

"A vast legacy of
powerful creative writing was revealed when nineteenth-century scholars managed to
decipher the mysterious wedge-shaped symbols of cuneiform script, inscribed on clay
tablets over 5,000 years ago by the ancient Mesopotamians. Strikingly familiar themes
emerged, forcing the Victorian world to review its belief in the Bible as the sole source
of literal truth. Imagine the impact of the Epic of Gilgameshthe saga of a man in
search of the secret of eternal lifewhich includes scenes of a flood predating the
story of Noah and the Ark. In contrast, an alternative version of human origins is
described in the Mesopotamian Epic of Creation, while the tale of Etana foreshadows the
Greek myth of Ganymede."

"These and other stories are here retold, based on the latest
translations, and illustrated with the works of both contemporary and later artists
inspired by the rediscovery of these ancient characters and themes. Not only are the myths
a foundation of our Western literary tradition, they are also compelling stories in their
own right."

"Entertaining and sometimes horrifying legends of
gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, monsters and giants survive from pagan
Scandinavia, even though the Norsemen were unable to write them down. Odin and Thor,
Freyja and Loki, Sigurd the Volsung, Gudrun and Brynhild are the most famous of these
mythical characters, whose stories were eventually recorded."

"With authority and wit, Professor Page retells
the Norse legends and shows how complex and sometimes contradictory their traditions are.
Yet it is through these ancient myths that we know how the Norsemen visualized the
creation of mankind and the final ending of the world."

"The traditional
tales and stories of ancient Iran, which occupied a vast area of Central Asia, describe
confrontations between good and evil, the victories of the gods, and the exploits of
heroes and fabulous supernatural creatures such as the magical bird Simergh and the dev or
black demons. Much of our information about Iran's pre-Islamic past comes from the holy
book of the Zoroastrian religion, the Avesta, which was not written down in its present
form until the thirteenth or fourteenth century A.D. but dates back originally to between
1400 and 1200 B.C. As well as the words of the prophet Zoroaster and stories about the
wise
lord Ahura Mazda, it also incorporates earlier pagan myths which reappear in the Shahnameh
(Book of Kings), a magnificent epic in rhyme complete in A.D. 1010 by the poet Firdausi
and featuring his most famous hero, Rustam."

"Dr. Curtis draws upon all of these sources to retell for
modern readers the stirring legends of ancient Iran, which have inspired centuries of
manuscript illustrations."

Chinese myths were primarily a
diffuse and fragmentary oral tradition, eventually preserved in writing only in a
piecemeal fashion. Many classical texts are unavailable in translation, and the stories
have been unknown to Western readers. Anne Birrell here introduces the general reader to a
selection of narratives organized by themes and motifs thathelp set Chinese myths in the
context of world mythology.

The contents include:

Origin and creation myths
Myths of the flood
The divine cosmos
Gender in myth
Metamorphoses
Mythic heroes and heroines
Fabled plants and animals
Major sources of myth

"Here retold in all their
dramatic power are some of the most exciting and influential of all Greek myths: the epic
struggle of the Trojan War, the wanderings of Odysseus, the tragic destiny of Oedipus, and
the heroic adventures of Herakles, Theseus, Perseus, and Jason."

"The author introduces the complex pantheon of Olympian gods
and goddesses, describing their attributes, genealogies, and often comic relationships,
and illustrates the personalities and their stories by drawing upon the artistry of the
ancient culture which created them. A concluding chapter reviews the powerful and
continuing imaginative legacy of Greek myth, from Botticelli to Freud."

"The myths of the Romans are rather different from those of
other ancient cultures, such as the Greeks or the Egyptians. Most Roman myths do not
consist of stories about the gods and their actions, nor were they presented as fictional,
magic stories. Ancient writers such as Livy, Virgil, and Ovid treated myths as history:
the history of Rome itself, of its rituals and religious practices, and of important,
noble Roman families. Myths were valued as exemplaillustrations of moral
truths."

"Many myths centered around the founding of the city of Rome,
such as those of Aeneas, Romulus and Remus, and the (largely imaginary) Seven Kings.
Others provided models of virtuous behavior by citizens or added luster to family
histories. The protagonists were often male, but sometimes female. Lucretia, who killed
herself to expunge the shame of being raped and helped precipitate the founding of the
Roman Republic, was a heroine who has exercised a particular fascination on later writers
and artists. Still other myths grew up around particular deities (mostly Greek) who were
taken into the Roman pantheon at different times or provided 'historical' explanations for
cult activities or festivals such as Lupercalia."

"Celtic Myths
explores the mythology and beliefs of the pagan Celts between about 600 B.C. and A.D. 400.
At their peak, the Celtic peoples inhabited a vast area of Europe, Great Britain, and
Ireland. As non-literates, they have left no written record of their lives, their beliefs,
and the stories which were such an important part of their culture; however, contemporary
commentators from the Classical world, later Christian scribes recording oral traditions,
and the archaeological evidence can give us fascinating, though fragmented, glimpses. Dr.
Green draws on all these sources to discuss the myths and the religious beliefs and ritual
which she believes inform them."

T"he heroic and magical tales of the Book of Invasions, the
Fionn stories, the Ulster Cycle, and the Mabinogi are the subject of the first chapters.
These stirring stories, though recorded in medieval times by Christian writers, preserve
fascinating evidence of their pagan origins. Dr. Green then goes on to look at the
evidence for Celtic religious beliefs and raises some interesting questions as to
how far we can establish links and recognize common features between the story material
and the archaeological record."

"The myths of the Aztec and
Maya derive from a shared Mesoamerican cultural tradition. This is very much a living
tradition, and many of the motifs and gods mentioned in early sources are still evoked in
the lore of contemporary Mexico and Guatemala."

"Professor Taube discusses the different sources for Aztec and
Maya myths. The Aztec empire began less than 200 years before the Spanish conquest, and
our knowledge of their mythology derives primarily from native colonial documents and
manuscripts commissioned by the Spanish. The Maya mythology is far older, and our
knowledge of it comes mainly from native manuscripts of the Classic period, over 600 years
before the Spanish conquest. "

"Drawing on these sources as well as nineteenth- and
twentieth-century excavations and research, including the interpretation of the codices
and the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing, the author discusses, among other
things, the Popol Vuh myths of the Maya, the flood myth of Northern Yucatan, and the Aztec
creation myths."

"Inca Myths begins
with an introduction to the land and people of the Andes and reviews the sources of our
current knowledge of Inca mythology. Gary Urton then recounts various creation myths,
including a selection from various ethnic groups and regions around the empire. Finally,
he draws upon his extensive knowledge of the history and ethnography of the Incas to
illuminate the nature and relationships of myth and history."

"The contents include:

Introduction
Creation myths
Origin myths of the founding of the Inca empire
Myths of the works and deeds of the Inca kings
Selection of myths from around the empire
Animal myths
Myths from the Spanish Conquest
Conclusions"